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Hobgoblins
War drums. Stomping hooves. Clanking armor. Bowstrings drawn. These are all the warning to precede your downfall. Hobgoblins are a type of Goblinoid that is taller and more orderly than the standard Goblins. They are common outside the Realm of Midgard. Physical Description Hobgoblins are taller than standard Goblins but of slighter build than Bugbears. They tend to have skin ranging from gray to brown to red and several shades in between. While they grow ratty, dark hair on their heads they seem generally incapable of growing facial hair, a trait shared with other Goblinoids. Culture Wherever they are, Hobgoblins are ruled by might. Might makes right in traditional Hobgoblin society, similar to that among the Orcs. However mere physical might is not the only factor that plays in to this, and most Hobgoblins respect one's abilities to outmaneuver opponents and secure powerful alliances with which to defeat foes. As a strength based society, Hobgoblins consider enslavement the greatest form of punishment, and lay it upon defeated enemies foreign and domestic. The second greatest shame a Hobgoblin can suffer is to be enslaved by another, the greatest to be enslaved by a non-Hob. While Hobgoblin society tends to be misogynistic, such opinions run secondary to respect for strength, and any female Hobgoblin who shows herself as strong as (or stronger than) a male is awarded just as much respect as her male counterparts. While it differs from world to world, Hobgoblins generally worship gods of warfare and conquest, of strength and cunning. On Mir this translates to the deities Cossag and Tenghaar, as well as their divine 108 Ancestor Spirits. Affiliations While Hobgoblins have a habit of seeing themselves as better than other races, they are known to work often with other Goblinoids and with Orcs, all of whom they have much in common with. Notable Hobgoblins Kochukai the Accursed One Kochukai is an ancient and storied Hobgoblin Khan of Mir. Skilled both in combat and in command, Kochukai created a powerful khanate that conquered vast tracts of land, reaching as far as modern Muskov and Kalgorod, though he desired more. He challenged the Heavens themselves, seeking to make himself into a Hobgoblin God, the God of Tyranny and Conquest. His ravenous followers supported him for some time, until the beki, shamans, could take it no more and denounced Kochukai as a heretic, accursed by the 108 Ancestors. In response, Kochukai fed the beki to his tigers and spat on the Ancestral Effigy. Reaction was swift and severe, with the image of all 108 appearing before Kochukai and his khanate, themselves pronouncing Kochukai the Accursed One and ripping him bodily from the world, granting the immortality he sought but separating him from all contact, to exist forever in the ether, formless and thoughtless, for all eternity. On Other Realms Hobgoblins are virtually unknown on Midgard, and therefore are known almost entirely to other worlds they inhabit. On Terra The barbaric Hobgoblins of Terra are concentrated primarily in Southern Shin, where they compete with Human samurai and Oni warlords for dominance, though many of their kind are also enslaved or indentured to Oni as well. On Mir The vast majority of Hobgoblins on Mir are located to the far East, in Outer Hobgolia. They form might khanates or sell their services to their neighbors as mercenaries. Some are said to be bound in service to the mysterious Son of Heaven located in Greater Hobgolia. See Also Return to the Index of Races, Goblinoid, or Humanoid pages. Category:Races Category:Humanoids Category:Goblinoids